REGULATORY STRUCTURE, CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE PROBATION SERVICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

ABSTRACT

The complexity of crime imposes the need for a wider range of means of reaction, starting from the principles of legality and individualization in sentencing. Namely, the expanding choice of its sanctions, grants an opportunity for the judge to impose a sanction that would most appropriately match the objectives of the punishment.
In continuation of the foregoing, Republic of Macedonia in 2004 has made significant changes in the system of criminal sanctions by introducing alternative sanctions. Overall, it’s about sanctions that place the treatment of the community in the foreground,respectivelyavoiding institutional response, and are intended for offenders of lesser crimes.
The new legal solutionshave opened up different perspectives into the penal policy, from which it was expected to significantly contribute in regard to the structure of thesanctions thatare pronounced by the courts.
Yet after more than a decade, alternative sanctions have not received proper application in penal policy. Multiple reasons can be enumerated about this,but one is dominant, namely immediately after their adoption noacceded approaches to the creation of a separate body for its implementation were undertaken,something that existed in other countries, respectively probation service.
Finally, an essential step for practical application of alternative sentencing policy in Republic of Macedonia was done in December 2015 with the adoption of the Law on probation. (Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia br.226 / 2015)
Exactly this is the subject of this paper, respectively the legal structure of the competent authority, the challenges that it faces and the expectations of its actions in the field of the alternative sanctionspolicy course with previous emphasis on the importance of alternative policies.
Keywords: probation, alternative measures, probation service, community treatment,